He Loves Me Not
by Chiazu
Summary: After a series of strangulations in Boston, FBI agent Tony Stark is sent to assist the lead detective of the case, Steve Rogers. They must quickly learn to work together before another body appears. AU, strong language, future slash pairing
1. Prelude

**Comments:** This is not only my first Stony fic but my first Avengers one, so go easy on me. And since this is AU, expect the characters to be a bit OOC. It's more fun that way. Also, please let me know how you're liking it. It will help me to write this fic better if I know what I'm doing wrong.

A bright, yellow flower petal fell to ground, joining the others' that had formed a small pile. Above it, a middle-aged woman sat on the ground crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, and her make-up was smeared from her tears.

"He loves me." She spoke, plucking another petal from the flower that had been given to her. It joined the other petals in the ever growing pile at her knees.

She wondered to herself what she had done to deserve this. Who she angered up in heaven. Was it because she didn't volunteer at the soup kitchen? Or perhaps it had something to with the argument she had with her neighbor.

"He loves me not." Another petal fell to the ground. Only two were left now.

What would happen when the last one fell? Would he let her go, or just kill her? She was scared. She didn't want to be here anymore. She wanted to go home.

"He loves me." The pile looked much smaller just moments ago. She stared at the last petal of the bloom.

One more day. That's all she wanted. One last chance to hug her kids. One last chance to tell her husband how much she loved him. One last chance to get right everything she did wrong.

She hesitated. She didn't want to pull off the last petal. She didn't want to know what the man next to her would do. She could feel the cold metal press harder against her head as the man ordered her to finish.

"He loves me not." She watched as the last petal fell.

_A/N:_ I know it's short, but it is just prelude. Sorry.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long for me to post this. My nieces are here, so I haven't really had the chance to write much.

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There was a heavy sigh as a middle aged man leaned back in the desk chair he'd been escorted to earlier that morning. He was supposed to meet the lead detective in a series of strangulations half an hour ago. For a moment, the man thought about leaving, but knew better not to. He didn't want another ass chewing for that. Besides, this case was more important than the plans he had, or so he'd been told. After a few more minutes, even though it felt longer, a man in his late twenties finally came up to greet him.

"Hello, I'm Steve Rogers, lead detective on the case."

"Tony Stark, FBI." Tony stood and shook the hand Steve extended towards happily, grateful to finally meet the younger man. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Sorry I'm late. Lost track of time."

"Don't worry about it." Tony waved his hand in the air, as if he were trying to shoo the issue way like he would a fly. "What have you got so far?"

"Not much, to be honest. Our killer is surprisingly methodical." Steve dropped the folder he'd been holding on to his desk as he sat down. He motioned for Tony to sit in the chair on the other side. It was surprisingly more comfortable than it looked. "He doesn't leave DNA or fingerprints. And the evidence we do have doesn't help."

Steve grabbed the folder he discarded earlier, "What we do have, agent-"

"Tony," he said quickly, "It'll be easier for both us of that way."

Steve nodded in silent agreement. It would be simpler without formalities. "Okay, Tony, what we have is the size of his hand." Tony looked at the detective, not sure if he heard that just right.

"The size of his hand? How did you get the size of his hand without a fingerprint?"

"Yeah." Steve pulled a photo out of the folder, scanning it before handing it to Tony. "It's a lot harder to actually strangle someone with your bare hands than people think."

"I see." Tony spoke as he looked at the photo. It was a picture of one of the victim's neck. Tony didn't know which, there was no way he would be able to tell by just looking at her neck. Even so, he could she white, as all the victims were. This caused the dark, ugly bruise to stand out in stark contrast against her skin. "So he's smart enough to know that there's a possibility he could leave his prints since he's squeezing so hard, so he wears gloves just in case."

Steve hummed slightly in agreement as he pulled another photo from the folder. It was of the same woman, only this time it showed her face. He handed the photo over to Tony, who noticed the cut on her lip almost instantly.

"She can't be more than 40 years old." Tony spoke as he took in the woman's face.

"Maria Hendricks. She was 38, married with two kids, and worked at an antique shop. She's the latest victim. It's been almost two months since her body was found."

"And there have been five victims?"

"Yes," Steve answered heavily, "A new body is found every three months." He leaned back in chair and rubbed his eyes. The signs of man who worked long hours because he had no one to go home to.

Tony watched the younger man for a moment before speaking again. "Is there anything connecting the victims?"

Steve shook his head. "No. I've had tech look through their phone records and credit cards. I even got them to look through their computers. Nothing connects any of the victims."

"I see. Anything else I should know about?"

Steve tossed a small, plastic bag Tony towards who caught it with ease. Inside of it was a small collection of yellow flower petals. "We found those on the second and fourth victims. The analyst says they're both from sunflowers. Not the same obviously, but I'm sure it's connect to the case somehow."

"Right," Tony spoke quietly as he continued to glance at the petals. "Sunflowers don't exactly grow around here so you aren't wrong in thinking so. You know where the last victim's body was found?"

"Of course."

"Good. You can drive then." Tony stood up quickly, Steve following suit. "I want to see it for myself. Mind if we take your car? Mine's low on gas."

"As long as you don't smoke in it." Steve followed Tony out of the squad room.

"Not a problem," Tony clapped Steve on his shoulder and grinned at him, "I don't smoke."

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**A/N:** Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.


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